Post-match quotes (River Plate game)

(On the change in field surface) “We played on turf before, so it is just a matter of us coming out and getting our minds focused. Turf or grass, it doesn’t matter. You’re still out there to play. The ball is round and the other team is playing on it as well. Then it’s a matter of us coming out and getting focused to play. It doesn’t matter what the surface was. If you get your mind right, you can play on any surface.”

(On the quality of River Plate’s play) “It was pretty good today. The River Plate team that we played today, they’re very technical, a lot of touches on the ball but it doesn’t matter. For us, we want to be positionally sound and I think we did that in the first half. We were moving, we were trying to knock the ball around. Whenever we got possession I thought we did well. Defensively I thought we were solid today. Now we just have to keep building on it because we have the opener in two weeks. We just have to keep getting better and better each and every day.”

Quotes from Brad Evans

(On the fluid schedule of games and conditions) “Each game we’ve had this trip we weren’t sure where we were going to play, when we were going to play. Last night we finally found out that the game was going to happen and it was going to be on turf. We weren’t expecting Astroturf, like it is right now. You deal with it when you get here. That’s why you warm up and that’s part of the game. I think we handled it as well as we could. Coming into it, to play a nil-nil draw. I think it was the best opponent we played this week, so it was OK.”

(On competitive level of opponent) “Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. It’s definitely better than we’ve played this week, for sure. Whether that would be a reserve squad or under-23s or whatever, for us it’s just coming in a playing quality soccer. It’s just an advantage to play against a quality opponent and come out with a nil-nil draw (after the first half).”

Quotes from Coach Sigi Schmid

(On playing River Plate) “It’s good for us to get a game. It wasn’t ideal the way everything came down the last few days with the rain. Yesterday we went to the gym and did weight training. You wouldn’t normally weight train before you play a game in the morning. So what ended up happening for us, I think we’re a little bit slow because of that. Still, I think it was a good game, I think it was the best opponent that we played on the trip here. You know you learn more sometimes by losing a game than winning it.”

(On what was learned from the River Plate game) “Obviously we took out of this the fact that we’ve got to play the ball a bit quicker to people, give the ball to our teammates when they need it rather than when we’re through playing with it. We have to be better at our passing and we have to be a bit stronger physically at the right moments and do a better job with our hold-up play up front. That being said, and being fair to the guys too, it was a fast surface. They (River Plate) played on the same surface, but it was also a situation that weight training just robbed you of a little bit of quickness and sharpness that you need on a surface like this.”

(On assessing the whole trip) “It’s been a positive trip. I think we’ve learned things about ourselves. We’ve gotten more minutes for guys together on the field, so the understanding is better. You learn from doing things successful, you also learn from things that don’t work. You learn a lot that way. I think we accomplished that. It allowed us to continue to work on our fitness and allowed us to push that in the right direction. It’s been a good trip for all those factors.”